Meaghan Smith began her artistic career as an animator, so perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise when she describes her musical journey in video game analogies.

“It was like a video game or something where I was like, I wonder if I can beat level ‘Get the FACTOR grant.’ And then I was like, OK I can’t believe I beat that level, what’s the next level?” Smith says.

The Halifax singer gladly played music as a hobby until her debut full-length album The Cricket’s Orchestra caught fire, eventually leading to a 2011 Juno Award for Best New Artist.

“The Juno, that was like beating the boss at the end of Mario. You’re like, ‘OK, I’ll be stuck on this level for a couple tries at least.’ But I kind of feel like I beat the boss on the first try … And anybody who saw those Juno Awards would know that I was completely shocked and appalled and amazed that I won.”

Smith will perform at the Artery, 9535 Jasper Ave., Friday night, accompanied by her husband Jason Mingo. The duo is touring in support of Smith’s new Christmas album It Snowed, featuring originals and holiday standards performed in her trademark big-band-meets modern pop style.

Just a few years back she was content with her animation job, making music on the side to feed her free-wheeling creative spirit.

“(Animation) was a great job. I got paid good money to draw for eight hours every day, it was awesome,” Smith says. “But in the end, I was always working on someone else’s project; I was being hired to draw a show that someone else had created, and work on scripts that someone else had written.”

Smith wrote The Cricket’s Orchestra during a three-month break after completing a nine-month-long animation project. She recorded the album independently in 2008, and planned to go back to drawing after touring it around the Maritimes.

Little did she know, she was on the verge of a major career shift.

“Then it just kind of blew up. I started hearing from major labels in America, people wanting to fly in from New York and Los Angeles and Nashville to come and have meeting with me,” she recalls.

Smith signed with Warner Music Canada, who ponied up an advance that allowed her to quit her day job.

Her first taste of success came with her cheery cover of The Pixies’ Here Comes Your Man, which was featured on the indie-rock soundtrack for the flick (500) Days of Summer.

Smith used the advance money to re-record The Cricket’s Orchestra, on which she fully realizes her old-meets-new musical style. Guitars, keys, upright bass, clarinet, flute, omnichord and an eight-piece horn section are contrasted by Kid Koala’s turntable scratching and chopped-up samples from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

Ironically, switching careers has also given Smith more creative freedom with her visual art. She currently makes three-to-five-inch portraits that are hot sellers online and fly off the merch tables at shows.

“They’re really, really popular. It’s this other thing that I never thought would catch on,” she says.

Smith made It Snowed to express her love of good Christmas music — “There’s some Christmas songs that I refuse to sing,” she notes – and is currently working on a new album that will swing away from old-fashioned jazz sounds toward bigger drums, more turntable scratches and looped vocals. The disc will drop next year.

Meaghan Smith bringing the Christmas spirit to the Artery

Meaghan Smith began her artistic career as an
animator, so perhaps it shouldn’t come as a
surprise when she describes her musical journey in
video game analogies.

“It was like a video game or
something where I was like, I wonder if I can beat
level ‘Get the FACTOR grant.’ And
then I was like, OK I can’t believe I beat that
level, what’s the next level?” Smith
says.

The Halifax singer gladly played music as a
hobby until her debut full-length album The
Cricket’s Orchestra caught fire, eventually
leading to a 2011 Juno Award for Best New Artist.

“The Juno, that was like beating the
boss at the end of Mario. You’re like,
‘OK, I’ll be stuck on this level for a
couple tries at least.’ But I kind of feel like I
beat the boss on the first try … And anybody
who saw those Juno Awards would know that I was
completely shocked and appalled and amazed that I
won.”

Smith will perform at the Artery, 9535 Jasper
Ave., Friday night, accompanied by her husband
Jas